


Days, Weeks, Months, Years

by Itscalledthedistrict



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Angst, Introspection, M/M, Pre Season 7, space dads
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-21
Updated: 2018-07-21
Packaged: 2019-06-13 19:18:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,555
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15371508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Itscalledthedistrict/pseuds/Itscalledthedistrict
Summary: Takashi made it clear his mission was more important than anything in the world. Adam made it clear that he wouldn’t wait around for him this time. He wasn’t stupid; he knew how dangerous this mission would be. It came down to whether he’d rather remember Takashi as the one that got away or the man that left him for the stars.Adam doesn’t regret his decision… until he does.





	Days, Weeks, Months, Years

He never thought those six words would ruin his life.

After his… _disagreement_ with Takashi, Adam packed his essentials and insisted on sleeping in a friend’s room. It wasn’t a fight, Adam thought. Fights are messy and end with someone slamming doors and saying things they don’t mean. Adam knows they both meant every word. Takashi made it clear his mission was more important than anything in the world. Adam made it clear that he wouldn’t wait around for him this time. He wasn’t stupid; he knew how dangerous this mission would be. It came down to whether he’d rather remember Takashi as the one that got away or the man that left him for the stars.

Word spread around fast when the two ended their relationship. Iverson expressed his condolences and insisted he’d find someone else. Sam Holt gave him a sad smile when they passed each other in the halls. Keith avoided him like the plague. Once, Adam tried to stop Keith to ask if they could talk.

“I don’t want to see you,” Keith said sharply.

Adam sighed, “I know I’m not your favourite person right now, Keith. You have to know that I’ll still be here for you though. Takashi and I aren’t together anymore, but I still care about you.”

“Don’t tell me that!” Keith pushed his stomach and Adam fell back slightly. “Shiro was the only person there for me after my dad died. You were just there because of him. You put up with me because Shiro decided I was worth something. Now that you two aren’t together we don’t have anything in common.” Adam tried to interrupt, but Keith ran the other way. “Don’t talk to me again!”

In the weeks leading up to Takashi’s departing date, Adam found no reason to seek the other male out. They weren’t together anymore. The engagement was off. Keith, the child he’d come to view as his own, didn’t want anything to do with him. Suddenly his life was empty. Adam wondered if this was how it would be forever. No more of Takashi’s cringe-worthy jokes, or Keith’s fascination with his engineering work. No more of Takashi’s smiles, laughs, spontaneous dates, small gestures of love…

Adam bolted up one night in a cold sweat. He thought he could do this. He thought he could convince himself that Takashi didn’t truly care about him. He _knew_ when he gave that ultimatum Takashi would choose the mission over anything else, including him. He thought once he heard those words out of Takashi’s mouth he’d be able to move on. He was wrong. He was _so_ wrong and he was going to pay for it dearly. He looked at the clock on the opposite wall. _04:32_. He still had time to get over to the launch site and beg for Takashi’s forgiveness. Adam grabbed his glasses, threw on the first clothes he saw and hurried out the door.

When he got to the launch site, Adam saw the Holts and Keith exit the building. “No,” Adam thought, “no no no no no _please_ Takashi, _please_ don’t tell me-”

“They just left,” Keith said with no remorse. He kept walking as Adam fell to his knees and sobbed.

* * *

Seconds passed, followed by minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years. They were all the same. Get up, train, complete work, eat, train more, sleep, repeat. Adam moved to his own house. He developed a reputation as one of the harshest instructors at the Garrison. He declined offers to go out with his colleagues. He tried to get back in touch with Keith after he’d been expelled, but the now teenager had vanished.The only time Adam ever felt excitement was when he heard that someone from the Kerberos mission was found in an alien ship. All the excitement faded when he found out it was all a rumour. No, Adam truly felt that he had nothing to be excited for anymore.

Adam cursed his younger self. How could he have thought this was the right path? Why didn’t he fight for what he wanted? Why weren’t his last words to Takashi ones of love instead of ones of loss? Colleen always told him not to play the what if game. Adam didn’t see how it was hurting him. Sometimes it made him feel slightly better.

One night, Adam was getting ready to go to bed when someone knocked at his door. Adam frowned and looked through the peephole. His back was turned, but Adam could tell he was tall and had black, long hair. He opened the door and the man turned around.

Sad, violet eyes met his. “Keith?”

“Hi Adam.”

Adam opened the door wider so the young man could walk in. Keith stepped through the door and took in his surroundings. “This is nicer than your room at the Garrison.”

“Yeah, after a while the Garrison gets kind of crowded. I guess you of all people would understand that.”

Keith nodded slightly. He walked into the sitting room and looked at some of the photos Adam still had up. He picked up one frame and smiled. “You kept this?”

Adam smiled back. “Of course. It wasn’t every day that you came home with an ‘Outstanding Student’ award.”

Keith’s eyes dimmed for a moment as he put the frame down. “I came to talk about what happened between us.”

“Keith-”

“No. I need to talk about this.” Adam sat down and invited Keith to do the same. Keith started talking once he was seated.

“You probably want to know what happened to us all those years ago. In time I’m sure you’ll know the whole story. The abridged version is that aliens were attacking different galaxies with the goal of conquering the entire universe. The Galra were a cruel and moralless species. They’re the ones that captured those on the Kerberos mission. Shiro was captured by them and, well, he was tortured. With the help of an undercover agent he was able to come back to Earth. However, that’s when we discovered the Blue Lion, which led us into space and to the Castle of Lions. We’ve spent these last years battling aliens in huge, robotic ships.”

Adam tried to speak, but Keith cut him off. “I know it’s a lot to process. That’s not exactly why I’m here. I wanted to say that I finally understand the pain you felt when Shiro left.

“I had to leave Voltron for a while. I joined the Blade of Marmora, which is basically an underground organisation of Galra. I had to learn about my past and have my questions answered. I didn’t realise that I was hurting the team with my absence. Especially Lance…”

“Lance, the kid you used to fight with all the time?”

“Yeah, surprisingly. He, Hunk and Pidge, Sam Holt’s daughter, were Paladins with Shiro and I. He and I are kind of a thing now.”

“Kind of?” Adam teased.

Keith rolled his eyes, “Okay, we’ve been together for a while now. Lance calls us novios.”

“Shiro and I wondered if you two would end up together.”

“Yeah? I guess you two always knew best.” Keith paused for a moment before continuing. “Anyways, before we were dating I left to go join the Blade. Lance never said he didn’t want me to go. I thought I wouldn’t be needed on the team anymore. I didn’t think it would affect anyone. Well, when I got back, I noticed Lance was acting a lot different. It took a while, but I finally got him to open up about how he missed home and he didn’t feel as though he fit.

“I finally understood what you were thinking when you broke off the engagement. You thought everyone would be better off. You wouldn’t have to spend endless days worrying about him and he wouldn’t have to keep any promises to you. You did what you thought was best and didn’t realise you were wrong until it was too late.”

Adam turned away from Keith to blink away his tears. “I still worried about him every day. There isn’t a day that goes by where he doesn’t take over my thoughts.”

“He still cares about you too.”

Adam glanced at Keith and saw the most sincere look he’d ever seen on the younger one’s face. “When did you get so old?” He asked through tears, “I can’t see past the twelve year old that insisted he could reach the top shelf by himself and now…”

“I know.”

The two sat together for a while. Adam processed all Keith had said slowly. “Wait, does that mean-”

“There’s a private dinner happening tonight with the Paladins and the Garrison officers. You can see him there.”

* * *

That night, Adam put on his best suit and black tie. He combed his hair and made sure there wasn’t a speck of dirt on his glasses. Adam walked into the cafeteria to see Keith with his arm around Lance’s waist, the Holts and another man in a huge discussion, then two people with really pointy ears seated at the table with…

He had white hair now. There was an old scar across the bridge of his nose. He was missing an arm. Still, this man was his home, and Adam was frozen.

"Takashi?" 

**Author's Note:**

> SHIRO IS LGBT+ BABY!!!  
> I'm very excited about this revelation. I hope to see more about his and Adam's relationship in season 7!


End file.
